Last year, at the general meeting, when the work of the forthcoming
season was being considered, it was stated that the chief work of the season
would be a complete exploration of the so-called royal tombs at Omm el
Gaab. What we had in view, in the first place, was the clearing of the
square on the south of which is the tomb of Den, and on the north the
tomb of a king whose name is read in various ways, Zer (Prof. Petrie),
Khent (Dr. Budge), and Shesti (Prof. Naville). That space, which had not
been touched by former explorers, seemed most promising, considering
what we had found there during the previous winter.

We had also the intention of excavating completely some of the tombs
already known, as we had excavated that of Perabsen, fully expecting that
the Service des Antiquites would afterwards take charge of them, so as to
preserve these monuments when they had been cleared. But since the
Service told us that the money available for the preservation of monuments
was to be devoted mainly to those which had an artistic interest, and not
to those which were best preserved by the sand, the clearing of these tombs
would have resulted in their certain and speedy destruction. We therefore
were obliged to give up that idea, except for the tomb of Shesti (Zer)
which we cleared partly and covered up again, and that of Perabsen which
had been laid bare the year before and had already suffered from the
exposure.

The accompanying plan (Plate I.) shows the extent of the work done at
Omm el Gaab. This work has been disappointing, especially that part of the
mound which seemed most promising. The untouched square gave no
result, not even Osiris statues such as those which we had discovered the
year before.